Aristides. The Just, Distinguished and Faithful Athenian Magistrate. Man with values superior to the interests of his time, known for his fairness and good sense of responsibility, in addition to his loyalty to his native Athens .
Summary
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- 1 Biographical synthesis
- 1 Early years
- 2 Political trajectory
- 3 Military history
- 4 Death
- 2 Sources
Biographical synthesis
Early years
He was born in Athens , Greece , in 530 BC . His father was Lysimachus and his cousin Calos . Disciple of the political ideas of Clístenes .
Political career
After the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC , the following year, he was named an eponymous Archon in Athens. His main political opponent was Themistocles . Aristides became the leader of a conservative trend, but was defeated and in 482 BC and ostracized .
Ostracism is the customary political exile among Athenians. Many were the wise actions and decisions that Aristides took in his life and that earned him the nickname “The Just One”. However, enemies also emerged, even within Greece itself in one of these disputes with his opponents, he had to face the uncertain vote to ostracism, against his opponent Themistocles .
Account Plutarco the voting day, an illiterate peasant asked Aristides to write him in his tile. The politician asked him what name he wanted to write and the peasant replied: “Arístides.” This astonished man asked him if the peasant had something against the politician. The illiterate replied: “I don’t even know him. But I’m sick of hearing from all sides that they call him the Just ”.
The politician, living up to his nickname, acted justly and put his own name on the tile. The result of the vote resulted in the banishment of Aristides by ostracism.
Military career
The first known news about Aristides dates back to 490 BC , when his attitude as an Athenian military and political righteous stood out at the Battle of Marathon . When the power shared with Miltiades was handed over to him for the battle, he did not hesitate to hand over power to him, considering that his companion was more capable of directing the troops, while still being the protagonist of the crucial battle.
When the law of restitution was approved, he returned from Egiria . In 480 BC he fought in the battle of Salamis , in which he had a prominent role by taking the Persian garrison of Psitalia . The following year he led the Athenian troops, which triumphed at Plataea .
Death
After the war against the Persians, he was in charge, together with the statesman Cimon , of the organization of the Delian League , of which he was an important creator. He administered with his great honesty, shown throughout his life, the common fund of it. He then retired from politics and died between 468 BC and 467 BC .
